MATHRONARUM THERMAE.
The average day of Roman Mathrona Ortensia Secundilla.
Tutor Gabriele Barrocu.
Commission work for the Uffizi Galleries.
I think that working on this project really highlighted mine and my team's flexibility and readiness to deal with a really demanding client that comes from outside of the animation industry and isn't quite familiar with the time this craft takes.
We were able to deliver a charming short film that fulfilled our client's expectations in record time, and in the process we were able to experiment with different styles and techniques. On my side, the project pushed me outside of my comfort zone and trained me to adapt my own, graphic style to styles that far differ from mine.
First pitch.
The first challenge the client posed was a stylistic one. On the one hand, the project was meant to appeal to a younger audience, teens and young adults aged between 13 and 20 years old, and the client even mentioned Zerocalcare's popular series "Tear along the dotted line". This made me think of something very stylized - also easier to animate - and in a way ironic, given Gen Z's tendency not to take anything too seriously. So, I pitched one of the "episodes" they had scripted, gave it a sarcastic and exaggerated tone, and designed a character that could be appealing in a sensual way. Federica Murolo joined my project and helped defining the styles of the updos - historical accuracy was, of course, of the utmost importance to our client.
Unfortunately, we realized pretty soon that the reference panels we were given depicting examples of characters, created by an employer of the Galleries, were to be considered final as far as character design goes, even though we thought that the style would be appealing to more mature audiences. The sarcastic tone we approached their original script with wasn't very appreciated, either.
Tgvrbe.
The client was definitely not fond of the more graphic style I had chosen for my pitch, preferring instead something more realistic and comic-like. I thus joined Marta Anselmi and Silvia Sabbatini's project, "Tgvrbe", an irreverent and very entertaining modern take on the case of the matricide of Agrippina, emperor Nero's mother. Still, the style we were proposing was again too simplified and cartoony according to the client, but there was no time left for us to animate traditionally following the Toonboom pipeline, so the four of us had to join yet another team.
Secundilla.
Eventually, my group fused with another which was already working on an alternative film for the same client and was already in an advanced state when I joined in. I helped constructing the cut out figures designed by Dario Lauritano, and used watercolor pastels to make some of the props under the guide of Nicola Bartoleschi - the team member with the most History knowledge.
I think that the final product looks pretty neat, and that it manages to maintain the client's desired look while still setting itself apart from any other animated movie about historical events.
